Process of treating nickel ores and product resulting therefrom



L. P. BURROWS.

PROCESS OF-T REAT|NG NICKEL ORES AND PRODUCT RESULTING THEREFROM.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 4, I920- RENEWED SEPT. 22. 1921.

Patented Aug. 1, 192 2.

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UNlTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

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PIDCESS OI TREATING NICKEL OBES AND PRODUCT RESULTING TEEREFROH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Continuation of application Serial No.,835,107, filed November 1, 1919, wliich in turn is continuation of Serial No. 44,819, filed August 7, 1915. Renewed September 22, 1921.

To all whom'it may concern:

Be it known that I, LINUs PORTER Bunrows, a citizen of the United States, and. resident of Erie, Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Processes of Treating Nickel Ores and Prod- 7 not Resulting Therefrom, of which the fol- I lowing is a specification, the same being a of the apparatus.

continuation of application filed August 7th, 1915, and serially numbered 44,310.

This discovery and invention relates to an alloy for use in steel making that. is made from nickel ores, and it includes the refining of such ores as well as related ores, it being specially adapted to the Sudbury nickelores and it consists in the treatment of the ore as hereinafter described.

The process may be carried out in any suitable apparatus and I have illustrated one embodiment of apparatus which may be used for this purpose, although it will be understood that this is illustrative only and that any other apparatus which would enable the various steps of the process to be carried'onin the manner stated could be used.-

The drawing shows a sectional elevation The apparatus comprises an expansion, radiation and precipitation chamber A, a

- digester B, and a plurality of precipitating of a rotatable Suitable means a chamber F condzructed with a suitable sheet metal shell 14 lined with firebrick or other heat-resisting material 15.

i '16 supplied with a gas supply The heating may be accomfplished by any of the well known means 0 .a gas burner 1pc 17. The air for combustion of t egas may This pplication filed Kay 4, 1920, Serial No. 373,395. Serial No. 502,549. a

pass in through the opening 18 and the products of combustion flow out through the opening 19.

The turning of the treating chamber is accomplished by convenient. means, such asthe gear 20 mounted on the trunnion 11 and driven from a pinion 21 on the counter-.

shaft 22, which countershaft is supported by suitable bearings 23 and 24 and driven from a pulley 25. The trunnions 10 and 11 are supported by bearings 26 and 27.

The expansion, radiation andprecipitab ing chamber A is in the form of a cylindrical container of considerable size, in which the steam is adapted to suddenly expand from substantially the center of the container, bein introduced to the center by a pipe whlch extends through the side of the chamber. On the top of the chamber is a dome 41 from which the expanded and dried steam passes into adelivery pipe 42.

A weighted pop-valve 43 leads from the pipe. 8 into the atmosphere and serves to maintain a substantially uniform pressure in the said ipe. The 'pipe 42 also contains a wntrol va ve 44.

The water of precipitation is removed by a suitable valved outlet 45 at the bottom of the chamber controlled by a ball float 46 whichcauses the water to flow 011' as soon as it rises to any considerable height in the Illgttom of the chamber. A manhole 47 may normally closed. by a door 48.

The steam which forms the base of the gaseous reagent may be produced in any convenient way. After the process is started it may be produced. by a heat radiating I from the furnace F and accordingly a heating coil' H is shown embedded in the walls of the furnace applied by a pipe 51 leading from a suitable water source.

From coil H a pipe 52 leads to the expansion and radiation chamber A. From the expansion and radiation chamber the resultant gas primes by the pipe 42 and a pipe 53 to suitable coils 1. embedded in the walls thereof whereby the temperature. en superheated, the resultant gaseous product by the',pi-pe 54 Patented Aug. 1, 1922.

provided for the removal of any sludge,

is superheated to a high Q to the valved injecting nozzle 55, which projects through the hollow trunnion 1O having a gas tight joint therewith. The gaseous product is discharged throu h the nozzle into the chamber E to deoxi ize the material therein. A suitable pressure gauge 56 may be provided to indicate the pressure at this int and the flow may be controlled by a suitable valve 57 The excess gaseous roducts in the chamber E pass through t e hollow conduit 60 leading to the side of the first precipitating chamber C.

A plurality of similar precipitation chambers will be provided connected in series.

It will be seen that in the ordinary operation steam under moderate pressure will be delivered from the pipe H. This passes into the expanding, precipitating and radiatin chamber A where it is subjected to sudfen expansion with diminution of pressure under such conditions as to prevent any material condensation and to allow the watery particles that are held in suspension in the steam to separate from the steam gravity or otherwise and become precipitated at the bottom of the chamber whence they pass through the 'outlet 45. The steam thus deprived of its watery constituents and having the major portion of the oxygen contalned in it radiated through the walls of the cylinder now passes from the dome &1, into the pipes 42 and 53, as a gaseous prod-' uct, then through -the reheating coils 2 where any remalning oxygen is separated from the said gaseous product, part of which is discharged into the digester E and part of which may be fed into the burner 16 to be burnt with the gaseous fuel therein.

The gaseous product is the same as described in the United States Patent No. 680,313, granted to me August 13th, 1901.

The nickel ore ,to be treated is crushed to about mesh and then introduced into the rotatable drum provided with means for heating the drum to red heat with .conduits for conducting gas to and from the drum.

The oreused may have a far lower metal content than anything heretofore capable of. commercial use. My tgeatment recovers all the metallic substance in Whatever, form it I to 'ately following. From I five to six 'hours appears and largely in excess of any process now known or practiced. Nitrous or chlorine substances may be added to the ore. After the drum has been charged with ore, it is sealed to the air, the burners under it lighted, the drum slowly revolved, and the gas made in accgrdance with my Patent 680,313 let into the drum resulting in the instantaneous absorption of the oxygen in the air contained in the drum and the absorption-of the oxygen in the ore immedithe drum is rotated and kept at red heat with a constant inflow of the gas and an outas through the outlet from the g through a series of precipitating proxlmating the size of furnace coal. These lumps are exposed to the atmosphere for a period of from 12 to 24 hours, depending upon their size,, resulting in a perfect disintegration of the lumps into a very fine powder. .The powder can then be used as an alloy. The powder is about one half soluble in sulphuric or nitric acid. It is' articularly pointed out that no roasting o the ore takes place.

This powder, I discovered by actual test in melting it with steel or iron scraps by the proportion of from-3 percent to 6 percent, produces a very fine cast metal corresponding in atomic structure to brass and other non-magnetic alloyed metals, but it has much greater rigidity and tensile strength. I also discovered that by the use of this powder the ordinary expansion of steel or iron between red and cold heat has been reduced to a minimum. It also corresponded with brass in not being forgeable when heated. The powder is of a brownishblack cast also impaipable, about the condition of flour and is exceedingly useful as an alloy in iron and steel and particularly in pig iron and steel scrap in producing metal castings.

The use of this powder also clarifies the- 2. The hereinbefore described rocess con sisting in first suddenly expan ing steam,

then separating the steam without condensation from any water held in suspension, heating the resultant gaseous product, and then subjecting crushed nickel ore to the action of the gaseous product for approximately five hours at red heat; subjecting the refined nickel ore to a smelting process to separate the silicious inatter from the metalliferous matter; then breaking up the metallic product and exposing it to the atmosaid powder being soluble in either sulphuric sphere, whereby a complete disintegration or nitric acid. A I of the material takes place resulting in a i. A met'allic product made from nickel 10 very fine powder. v ore comprising an air disintegrated povyder. 5 3. A product made from nickel ore com- In testimony whereon aflix my signaprising a very fine brownish-black air disinure t lS 3 h day of April-1920.

tegrated powder, approximately one-half of LINUS PORTER BURROWS. 

